In order to remain competitive in a growing global marketplace, product manufacturers have been forced to search for solutions to lower product production and distribution expenses. Common problems associated with all product manufacturing processes are the intermediate organizational layers required to process customer orders into finished products and the need to optimize the distribution process to minimize expenses in shipping the finished products to the customer. With the advent of the information age, where the customer base is global and a growing number of products consist of machine readable media containing collections of data from a variety of worldwide source databases, the problems associated with processing customer order information into finished products and distributing the finished products on a global scale have been increased by several orders of magnitude.
The manufacture and distribution of music media is a classic example of the difficulties facing manufacturers of information based products. Music media is sold today in two primary forms: on "singles" consisting of a media containing one or two songs; or on "albums" consisting of a media containing a collection or compilation of several songs. In general, many consumers would prefer to buy albums containing a number of their favorite songs from a particular artist or from several artists, thereby reducing the number of tapes or compact discs they must purchase and physically handle. Music media manufacturers, however, are faced with a dilemma as to which songs will be considered "hits" by consumers. Thus, many album compilations consist of one true "hit" among a number of unknown and untested "filler" songs. Consumers must therefore contend with less-than-satisfactory products, while music media manufacturers are faced with the prospect of reduced sales because the "hit" on the album does not provide sufficient value for the consumer to make a purchase.
In order to attract additional sales, music media manufactures have offered "Greatest Hits" albums consisting of a compilation of the greatest hits of an individual artist or song compilations from a variety of artists. It is still difficult, however, for the music media manufacturer to determine which compilation of songs will result in the largest number of sales. The basis for the selection is often industry survey data indicating top hits over a certain time period. There is no guarantee, however, that a particular compilation of songs will find a sufficient market.
The problem of determining the best compilation of songs to gain the maximum return is further compounded by the present distribution process, which requires that a media manufacturer load the distribution pipeline with sufficient product to meet anticipated demand. Music media is currently distributed via retailers, discounters, wholesalers, and mail-order clubs, each of which must have sufficient stock in place in the event that the album is a commercial success. Thus, the music media manufacturer is faced with the possibility of significant financial losses due to unsold inventory and distribution expenses in the event that the album is not accepted by consumers.
It would be desirable to provide a system that would permit individual consumers to select their own compilation of songs based on their individual musical interests, thereby eliminating the problem music media manufacturers have in guessing which compilation of songs will result in maximum sales. Kiosk-based technology in which the customer could select a compilation of songs would seem to address the issue of customization of media, but distribution overhead is not significantly reduced by kiosk-based systems, as each kiosk must be restocked on a regular basis with media. In addition, kiosk-based technology is limited by physical and temporal barriers, namely, the customer must travel to the kiosk (physical barrier) at a time when the store containing the kiosk is open for business (temporal barrier).
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for providing remote user control of a manufacturing process, and particularly a manufacturing process requiring the compilation of electronic data from one or more source databases, while providing a system that is free from physical and temporal barriers.